After obtaining the ether, Marlin had people wash it several times to remove the sulfuric acid and alcohol components, and then threw it to Leonardo da Vinci for animal anesthesia experiments. (The specific process will not be described)

Later, Marin, who possessed both concentrated nitric acid and ether, suddenly remembered the world's first smokeless gunpowder, B gunpowder, made by French chemists in 1884. The raw materials are nitrocellulose and paraffin, and the specific production process will not be told to you (and I dare not tell you......

B gunpowder is very simple to make, but the cost is too expensive. Because, the ether in its raw material is made from alcohol, and alcohol is made from grain. Now that the price of food in Europe is so expensive, it is obviously very expensive. Moreover, Marlin now has less concentrated sulfuric acid in his hands. After all, Wiltz concentrated the sulphuric acid in Cuba to oxidize the sulphurous acid naturally, which was slow and yielded in small quantities. As for the oxidation of sulfuric acid by heating with oxygen, Marlin knows it, but that requires the catalyst V2O5...... It's too professional, and Marin doesn't know how to get it...... Therefore, it can only be obtained by soil methods, but the amount of sulfuric acid obtained must be relatively small......

Fortunately, the simplest production of superphosphate can be done with sulfurous acid, and the thing should not be too much when processing nickel sulfide laterite. Therefore, Marlin decided that sulfuric acid would be used to concentrate to produce B gunpowder, and sulfurous acid would be used to treat superphosphate. Moreover, in line with the principle of "polluting the environment is better than polluting in one place", Marin decided to transport all the apatite from Western Sahara to the island of Great Inagua, where Wiltz treats laterite nickel ore in Cuba, and make superphosphate on site. The superphosphate, which is highly absorbent, is then shipped back to the mainland or to a local plantation in the Americas.

Superphosphate dissolves in water and is absorbed in seconds for crops. Therefore, it can not only be used as a base fertilizer in advance, but also can be used as a quick-acting top dressing in the growth process......

Instant superphosphate, combined with the equally instant German potash, can make agriculture more prosperous. In fact, the previous fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer, not to mention, manure, potash fertilizer is also very good, there are potash mines in Germany, Marin used the flame reaction to find the potash, contracted several potash salts, and now it is specially used to make mixed fertilizer. It was the previous use of apatite as phosphate fertilizer, and the effect was a little worse. Now, with superphosphate, the shortcomings of fertilizers can be regarded as making up. Then, in the future, the yield per mu of rye and wheat may exceed 500 pounds, like six or seven hundred pounds or even eight hundred pounds. As for why you don't want thousands of pounds per mu? The main varieties of seeds are not good yet...... With the addition of manure for nitrogen fertilizer, it is actually not much better than apatite. So, unless the seed problem is solved, and saltpeter is used as nitrogen fertilizer...... But is it possible? Even if he wins the saltpeter mines in Chile, Marin will not have the luxury of using saltpeter as fertilizer......

Superphosphate is used as a fertilizer, and other European countries don't know what it is, even if they find samples. After all, the appearance of superphosphate is very different from that of apatite. Even if someone steals a sample of superphosphate, they won't know what it is. At least, not in this era.

However, superphosphate is somewhat acidic, and it is said that when fertilized in acidic soil, it reacts with the salts in the soil and regenerates phosphate that is insoluble in water. Therefore, it should be noted that the acidity and alkalinity of the soil must be determined. It really doesn't work, you can use it with limestone to improve alkalinity. In fact, most fertile soils, such as humus such as black soils, are acidic and darker in color. Alkaline land, on the other hand, is mostly barren and painted in lighter colors such as yellowish white.

Then, acidic fertile soils are generally soft, just like teeth that are too acidic. Alkaline soils, on the other hand, are generally more compacted and have poor air permeability. It's clear when you water it – soft, acidic soil water seeps down quickly, while compacted alkaline soil seeps down more slowly.

Marlin originally wanted to measure the pH of the soil, which was more accurate. However, how the PH test strips are produced, Marlin doesn't understand at all. After all, his knowledge of chemistry is only at the level of middle school...... Therefore, he can only use this "empiricist" soil method to judge the acidity and alkalinity of the soil......

However, for Marin, most of the territory he controls is located in coastal areas, where water resources are abundant, and the soil has a lot of humus content, which is basically acidic soil. Therefore, it is necessary to add a little lime and mix with superphosphate for fertilization. As for those yellow-white barren land, then there is no need, anyway, the acidity of superphosphate is just neutralized with alkaline land......

Marin didn't know that because of the application of superphosphate, limestone had to be used, and as a result, a rumor came out later - Marin used limestone as fertilizer and obtained a high yield...... Then the whole of Europe raced to imitate......

But most of Europe's fertile farmland is acidic, and the application of limestone has actually led to an increase in yields – not by a small amount, by a tenth or two percent at most, but it is also very encouraging. It's just that a small part of the farmland at home is obviously dry and hard alkaline soil, and they also follow the trend to apply limestone as fertilizer, and then the yield is lower......

……

Because the amount of concentrated sulfuric acid was very limited, Marin only made 20 barrels of smokeless gunpowder B this time. If you want more, you have to have enough concentrated sulfuric acid.

No, Marlin had just finished making B gunpowder, and Leonardo da Vinci came to the door again......

It turned out that in order to test the effect of anesthesia, Ada had numbed five sheep, three dogs and two cows in the palace...... Then, when the ether ran out, he ran over to Marlin to ask for another ......

However, Marlin has already used it all to make B gunpowder, where is the ether left? Then Leonardo da Vinci got angry and quarreled with Marin......

If an ordinary craftsman dared to blow up a stab in front of him, Marin would have fanned it with a big ear scraper - paralyzed, sober up, remember who you are......

However, for Leonardo da Vinci, Marin was a little helpless. This Marlin is regarded as a treasure, after all, Leonardo da Vinci is the only scientist in this era who can do it. However, Ada, the old boy, probably knew this, and actually kicked his nose in the face and dared to quarrel with him......

"Pampered and proud! Look at Lao Tzu if you don't die tenderly...... "Thinking about the value of Da Vinci, Marin is really reluctant to kill the other party." Moreover, what left Marin speechless was that Da Vinci quarreled with him, mostly because of scientific research, and would never be arrogant for no reason...... So, Marin can't do anything about him......

"Is there really no sulfuric acid anymore? I'm in dire need! ”

"It's gone, it's all used by me! Moreover, this thing is only produced in Cuba. Marin said angrily.

"No, I remember when I was in Italy, many alchemists had sulfuric acid in their hands." Leonardo da Vinci said suspiciously.

"Italy...... Alchemist ......" Marin was stunned for a moment, and then rejoiced:

"yes, how did I forget those ancient chemists!"

There were no professional chemists in Europe at this time, and those who worked in chemistry were basically alchemists with eccentric tempers......

Most of these alchemists make a living and research by making and selling drugs (more poisons than cures), and at the same time have dreams of "turning stones into gold......

None of the above is the point, the point is - some of these alchemists are indeed proficient in the manufacture of sulfuric acid. Moreover, sulfuric acid is also an important alchemical material......

Italy is volcanic and rich in sulfur. Many Italian alchemists are good at making sulfuric acid directly from sulfur and then using it for alchemical research......

Marin is worried about the lack of sulfuric acid at this moment, so it is better to directly recruit these Italian alchemists to help him make sulfuric acid.

However, in view of the serious harm caused to the environment by the production of sulfuric acid, Marin decided to use another method of cooperation - sending a special chamber of commerce to Italy to buy sulfuric acid from alchemists who could make sulfuric acid...... In this way, the production of sulphuric acid is avoided from polluting the local area. As for the air pollution in Italy, what is his business?

In this way, there will be no shortage of sulfuric acid in the future. After all, although the efficiency of producing sulfuric acid was very low in this era, it added up to a lot. Marlin can cooperate with alchemists all over Europe who know how to make sulfuric acid, and buy a large number of them. At that time, there will be no shortage of sulfuric acid.

Of course, sulfuric acid is not only used to make ether and smokeless gunpowder. It also has other uses, such as the soda ash method produced by the Lübran method, which is well known to Marin, which requires a large amount of sulfuric acid......